IMPROVED MODE OF FORMING RAISED SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER, CALICO, &c. - United States Patent 670

United States Patent Office.

GODFREY WOONE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND. IMPROVED MODE OF FORMING
RAISED SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER, CALICO, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 670, dated April
2, 1838.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Godfrey Woone, of London, England, have
invented an Improved Method of Forming Plates or Cylinders with
Raised Surfaces for Printing and Stamping Impressions on Paper,
Silk, Calico, Cotton, and other Fabrics and Substances, of which
the following is a specification.

My invention consists in improvements in forming molds or
matrices from which casts are to be taken in metal or other
substances capable of receiving a sharp impression, having on
their surface the relief of the pattern, engraving, writing, or
design intended to be printed or impressed on calico, silk,
paper, leather, or other fabrics or substances on which
impressions are now commonly taken from plates, blocks, or
cylinders with raised figures, engravings, or designs produced
thereon by cutting, engraving, stamping, etching, or otherwise
lowering the parts or interstices between the work intended to be
left in relief or from stereotype-casts obtained from such
original plates or blocks.

I obtain my molds by the following methods, according to the
nature of the pattern, engraving, or design I am desirous of
obtaining in relief:

For the finer patterns used in calico or other printing or
paper-staining, or for engravings, such as are usually cut on
box-wood and printed at a type-press, I make use of the following
method: I take white lead and plaster-of-paris in different
proportions, about two parts of white lead and one of
plaster-of-paris, mixed with water to the consistence of cream. I
then pour this mixture or composition on a well-polished and
perfectly-even plate or block of metal or other hard substance of
the required size, varying the depth of the composition to the
height of the required relief.

For work to be printed at the type-press in the manner of
wood-engravings, the thickness of the layer or composition need
not exceed the twenty-fourth part of an inch, but for coarser
patterns or designs as for calico-printing the thickness of the
composition must be increased to about the eighth part of an
inch.

The plate or block covered with the above composition must be
left to dry gradually, or baked until it is entirely dry; or, in
order to give this coating a more even and perfect surface and
obtain with greater exactness the required thickness or height, I
lay the composition or coating on the plate or block thicker than
I intend to work upon. After the coating has been well dried I
scrape or smooth the surface down to the required thickness with
a piece of metal having a perfectly true and even edge or
surface. I first trace on this composition or coating the design
or pattern in the usual manner now employed by engravers or
artists. I then proceed to engrave, etch, scratch, or draw with a
steel point or other suitable instrument or machine all the lines
or parts of the design through the composition or coating down to
the metal or substance on which the composition or coating is
laid.

I now describe the second manner of forming my molds or matrices,
which is preferable for the coarser patterns or coloring-blocks
used in calico or other printing, but may also be applied to
finer work.

I take a piece of metal, wood, pasteboard, stone, or composition
of plaster-of-paris, of the height of the intended relief, and I
glue or otherwise fix the same on a block of wood, metal, or
other suitable material. I then cut, engrave, or etch with acid
in the usual manner employed by engravers either the outline or
the whole of the pattern or design. When the outline only has
been cut, engraved, or etched, it is necessary that those parts
that are within the outline of the pattern or design should be
taken out or removed in order to form a perfect mold or matrix of
the pattern or design to be obtained in relief. If acid is used
for obtaining this mold in metal, stone, &c., the plate of metal
or stone, &c., may be fixed on a block of wood, pasteboard, or
any other substance that is not liable to be corroded by the acid
used for biting in the mold of design or pattern.

It is necessary, in order to procure a perfectly clear impression
from the casts to be obtained from these molds, that some parts
should be lowered or depressed, in order that those parts may not
receive the printing ink or matter when applied to the relief,
and so produce a blurred or imperfect impression on the paper,
calico, or other substance to be printed on. In order to effect
this I either take a cast from the mold immediately after it is
finished by the methods I have before described, and then proceed
to finish the cast ready for receiving the ink, color, &c., by
the usual method employed by wood-engravers of cutting,
engraving, scooping, or lowering those parts of the cast which,
in consequence of the distance between parts of the design, &c.,
require to be deeper than the rest; or I make use of the
following method: After the whole of the design, engraving, or
pattern has been engraved, cut, or etched on the composition of
white lead and plaster-of-paris, wood, metal, or other substance
directed to be used for that purpose, I lay or fix on those parts
of the mold required to be heightened for the purpose of
obtaining a corresponding depression on the cast or impression to
be taken from it with any convenient or suitable instrument
modelers' clay or other fine earth or composition to the height
required, taking care not to injure or interfere with the design
or pattern which has been drawn, cut, or executed on the mold or
composition; or the heightening-matter may be laid on in the
following manner. Mix chalk, white lead, or any similar substance
with water as thick as can be conveniently laid on with a brush,
and apply this composition or mixture to those parts of the mold
which require to be raised. When this last-mentioned mixture is
to be applied to the layer or composition of white lead and
plaster-of-paris the mold or design drawn on the plate and layer
of composition must be first carefully and slightly oiled.

In order to prepare the molds for the operation of casting, they
must always be perfectly dried, which may be effected either by
allowing them to dry gradually or baking them. These molds may be
cast, stamped, or molded in metal, papier-mache, or other
substances now in use for obtaining casts of fine work for
ornamental or other purposes capable of being cast, stamped, or
molded, and receiving a sharp and clear impression from the mold,
and at the same time sufficiently hard for the purposes of
printing.

As there is no new feature in the method of obtaining a cast from
my mold, I do not consider it necessary to describe the process
of casting, stamping, or molding, as they may be cast by any of
the usual methods employed for fine casting and known to
practical men acquainted with the subject; but for casting fine
work, similar to wood-engravings, I prefer the method made use of
in the process of stereotyping or casting from molds taken in
plaster-of-paris from original wood-engravings. Likewise make use
of the same metal or composition used for that purpose. Casts may
also be formed by placing the mold in any convenient box or form
and pouring suitable metal into the mold or design.

The back of the plate is to be turned even in a lathe and mounted
on wood in the manner of stereotype-casts from wood-engravings or
letter-press. When the plates or reliefs are to be applied to
cylinders the metal or substance on which the mold is formed
should have a circular or curved form corresponding with the
circumference of the cylinder on which the plate of metal or
relief is to be fixed; or the plate may be cast level and the
required circular direction given by pressure.

It may be observed that I do not claim as new or as part of my
invention the mode of cutting, engraving, scratching, or etching
with acid for the purpose of forming a sunk design or pattern, as
they have long been known and practiced for obtaining impressions
on paper, &c., in the manner of copper-plate engraving; but

I claim as new�

The application of these methods in the manner I have described
for the purpose of forming molds from which casts can be obtained
in metal or other substances having on their face the relief of
the design or pattern which has been so cut or etched in
intaglio, and by which means I effect a great saving of time and
labor in producing a relief compared with the method or methods
now in use of first drawing the design or pattern on wood, and
then cutting, engraving, scooping, or removing all the parts or
interstices between the lines or tracings of the drawing, which
is attended with difficulty and inconvenience, and requires
greater labor, time, and skill than is required to form a relief
by the methods herein specified.

In witness whereof I, the said Godfrey Woone, have hereunto set
my hand and seal the 21st day of November, in the year of our
Lord 1837.

GODFREY WOONE. [l. s.]

In presence of

Joseph Marqueti, William, Noavlan, Glerlis in the Consulate of
the Untied States, London.